Mark Hortman was a technology professional who worked in the information technology and e-commerce industries for over three decades. He grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, and graduated from Millbrook High School in 1984. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics with a minor in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1989.

Career

Hortman began his career as a programmer at IBM, where he contributed to a project upgrading the nation’s air traffic control system. He later moved to Minnesota, where he earned an MBA from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.

He worked at Digital River as a principal enterprise program manager, focusing on e-commerce program leadership and API strategy programs. In 2021, he joined nVent Electric, a St. Louis Park-based electrical solutions company, as a program manager.

2025 Minnesota Legislative Shootings

On June 14, 2025, Mark Hortman was killed alongside his wife, Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, at their home in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. The attacker, Vance Boelter, disguised himself as a police officer and targeted the Hortmans’ residence. Boelter also attacked State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette at their home in Champlin, Minnesota, on the same day.

The attack was one of the most significant acts of targeted political violence against state legislators in modern American history. Mark Hortman was 58 years old at the time of his death. He and Melissa Hortman had two children.